SPARKS, Nev.—Tire wholesaler Silver State Tire Co. Inc. has purchased four warehouse facilities from Greenball Corp., in a deal that effectively will double Silver State's sales to $40 million annually. The transaction included threeCalifornia facilities operated by Greenball's Mid-State Tire Warehouse division and a Greenball site in Portland, Ore.
Greenball is an industrial and specialty tire distributor based in Long Beach, Calif. Though the deal effectively takes the company out of the passenger tire business, it will continue to market industrial, bias trailer and other specialty tires.
Silver State Chairman Ed Stocker said the acquisition will strengthen the Sparks, Nev.-based company and expand its markets.
``We're looking for a more dominant position in California,'' he said. ``And we want to make inroads into the Washington and Oregon markets.''
The July 1 transaction, for which no value was disclosed, covers Mid-State warehouses in Fresno, Modesto and Merced, Calif.
Consolidation in the tire industry also influenced Silver State's actions, Mr. Stocker said. ``We want to remain solid,'' he said. ``We didn't think a $20 million company was enough to keep up with the consolidation in the business.''
Silver State will operate the three California warehouses as part of its Golden State Tire Distributors unit, and the Portland facility will operate as Pacific Tire Distributors, covering Oregon and Washington.
Silver State Tire carries most major, associate and private brand tires in passenger, light truck, medium truck, industrial, farm, OTR and ATV fitments. Through its existing warehouses in Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., and Sacramento and Santa Rosa, Calif., the company already covered Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
The firm also operates a retail dealer support program known as ``Tires Plus,'' which offers advertising support, road hazard coverage, and credit card availability.
Mr. Stocker said discussions between the two firms about a merger began in January, but ``didn't go anywhere.'' Then in June, Mr. Stocker said Greenball President Chris Tsai told him Greenball wanted to get out of the car-tire business, talks resumed and a deal was signed on June 27.